Jim, you are a good mind reader! I was about ready to do a shout out to see if you've been lurking and were ready to come out and play again! And share the furkids with us.

That is GREAT news about your sister's job. Wooo Hooo.
She needs that paycheck to buy you all those great gifts she finds for Christmas and your b.d. LOL.

I'm laughing out loud at the 7 cats thing, and your hopes for a peaceful Christmas with 3 teenagers in the house.
Fixed or not, they are still teenagers! Tell me, is the orange one the biggest brat? I somehow suspect orange boy kitties get a bit more of the mischievious gene. Jazz aka Trouble has calmed down a lot now he's 3, but he's still a pistol. Did you see my post that he now opens the bathroom door when I'm in there? I have to laugh at him,
otherwise I'd probably throttle him!

I sure hope you can manage your decorating. You've got such great stuff, and Candy needs to see it this year. She is an over the top Christmas gal, LOL. Maybe you should do those hanging upside down trees. Cat safe. LOL.
The first Christmas I had Jazz, he was 8 months, and I was threatening to lock him in a room till mid Jan. I can't imagine dealing with THREE that age. But i bet you are having fun with them.
Give the beautiful Selena a hug from me, she's the greatest dog!

Thanks for checking in, glad to know you're still with us.
hugs, Karen

About time you checked in and let us know you are still alive and "decorating". LOL I know it's hard to come up with things of interest to everyone sometimes, but you sure have some neat items, so I too hope you will be able to do some of your Christmas decorating in spite of the kitties. Great news about your Sis. She must have been a really good employee for them to call her back. Sure hope they are very successful and she can keep earning that paycheck. Know you enjoy all your pets and their antics. Don't be such a stranger, you know you can always comment on our posts too.

Luvs

Jim, I'm getting antsy for Halloween to be over so we can do some serious Christmas decorating talk! lol

one more day..one more day...one more day... :)

BTW, we had our first Christmas commercial yesterday, and the Christmas issue of Victoria came yesterday. It's officially Tis' the Season!

Oak...I know you want to skip (run full steam, LOL) past Halloween, but what about Thanksgiving?
Seems like the Enablers here aren't doing a very good job of getting you into decorating for other other Holidays.
We'll just have to try harder I guess. LOL. Jim actually
did some Easter decorating, tho I think one of his cats enjoyed it more than he did. LOL.

Of course Christmas is the BEST, that's probably why its last. ;o)
hugs, Karen

LOL, Not sure what I'm doing for Christmas w/decorating - I think it may be a "we're going to Disneyland" experience for Tigger, Gizmo and Cookie. I hope this doesn't stop you from trying.haha Your so funny and I love seeing all your decorations.

Punk

Glad to hear that "the boys" are doing well and that your sister's job needs her! You decorate so wonderfully, Jim, but where are your Halloween decs? I'd been hoping to see your take on Halloween here.
Lynn

Oh my goodness......7 kitties would be a free for all!!!
I'm delighted to see you checking in, and hope you come back soon with pictures from the new camera!! Kitty pictures are good too ;^)

Karen, I skip Thanksgiving decorating also. It's the same colors as Fall & Halloween. Colors I do NOT like in my house but adore outside.

We had TG dinner here last year and I set the table in Christmas colors. That's because we all start talking about shopping on TG day, and after dinner the men got my tree out and set it up.

I don't know what it is, but I find those colors to be depressing.

We had some wild turkey walk through here the other day, so I don't need any little one's in the house. :)

Also, since our Christmas decor goes up right after TG and comes down on New Years Day, there's a lot of planning to be done early so I can get that out of the way for shopping. Which I've been doing. heh

Oak, before this Forum, I was kind of like you in not enjoying Autumn colors. Brown was depressing to me too,
and I never liked orange. But the last few years a huge change came over me, and now I love all the autumn colors and decorating with them almost as much as I do Christmas.
When brown and orange are put with rusts and golds and burgundy, and green..well it just seems beautiful to me now. I don't get to see real fall outside, everything stays green here in Phoenix. Wish I could see a real turkey for that matter. But my glass ones will just have to fill in.
I do envy you having more time to devote to Christmas stuff by skipping past Halloween and Thanksgiving. I've become so disorganized at times that I feel rushed to keep up with Holiday decorating in my house.

Jim, got that new camera working yet?
hugs, Karen

Karen, that's funny because I decorate my house in burgandys, reds and greens! Maybe it's because I already have Fall colors inside is why I don't do Fall? lol.

I do however change things out for Fall which I've already done. Like table runners, silk flowers, etc.

Here's what baffles me though. My friend is just like me, lol. Christmas is THE BIG ONE. And it's already November and most here put their tree up after Thanksgiving. So I don't understand why there isn't any Christmas talk yet.

I've been finding great sales online and in the stores for Christmas and have been stocking up, but not going overboard. It takes a lot of planning, more so than Fall decorating because we use more Christmas things around the house and outdoors. A lot more work goes into Xmas.

For example, I have a lot of super large pinecones that I'm trying to figure out what to do with besides spray painting and setting them on the mantel. I'm more than ready for Christmas topics! :)

Oak, funny you mentioned super large pinecones. Last year, after Christmas, my daughter brought me some when they were on a motorhome trip. I was real excited and wondered what I can do with them. I found a couple of photo ideas I like.
Use just one as a focal point in an arrangement....

do a basket of them, leaving plain like pictured or you could add sprigs of berries and colorful things if wanted.
{{gwi:1442916}}
Make a little swag to hang.

A final idea I saw somewhere, a gal used several little painted terra cotta pots and sat a large pine cone in each one. Looks like a gathering of little Christmas trees!

Jim, my apologies for hijacking your thread. I didn't mean to go on so much.
hugs, Karen

Karen - no problem, tks for the inspirational pics.
I have one of a pinecone tree that looks doable and I'll post below.
Yeah - Tigger like your Jazz is a handful--has been since birth, he's also really bonded with me, so that helps me overlook some things he does when being bad.
He's also a real drama queen so it is funny at times to get him going.

Remember the only reason I do Easter is because my friend sent me her excess - and knowing myself as I am with Christmas, i.e., having way too much -- it's best I don't do other holiday decorating.
Admiring what others do here is fine enough for me. ;-)

Not sure about the camera yet - it's way fancier than my Kodak, but not sure any better and I may return it.

Luvs - yes my sister is a valuable employee and knows what she's doing - so she hit the ground running when she returned.

phonegirl - Tks, the cats are bouncing off the wall now, I can imagine them swinging from the garland.
Last yr with the other cats that were older, they thought it was fun to chew on the lighted Christmas tree lights while I was trying to string them -- I had visions of what happened to that cat in the movie Christmas Vacation dancing in my head!

lynninnewmexico - thanks for the props - see above why I won't/don't do other holidays. LOL

Jaybird - somedays it's like New Yrs Eve in an insane asylum with the way the 7 cats behave - they literally bounce off the walls.

Here's a couple of pics using the new camera

Here's that pinecone tree that looks easy to make and simply elegant

A moody vignette shot from a corner of my LR w/new camera.

Tigger

Gizmo

Panda

jim...I think your kitties look downright "innocent!" LOL! Beautiful portraits in your natural indoor lighting. Good luck with the new camera & looking forward to your beautiful winter decor! Jeanne S.

The black and white kitty looks just like my Raptor!

LOL, Tigger doesn't look remotely innocent. He has Jazz's expressison downpat in fact. And he was smart to bond to you...Jazz is definitely my cat tho he likes my DH.

I love the pinecone tree, not sure I'd have the patience to make one. Every year I say I will but then I procrastinate. Of course your "moody vignette" suits my mood perfectly. Calls for a good book and some tea!

Yes I remember why you decorated for Easter. Your friend did us all a favor here too. LOL.

I sure hope you can figure out Christmas with the Kitties.
I definitely understand bouncing off the walls, Jazz still does that and I can't imagine THREE. I'd probably have to leave home. LOL.

hugs, Karen

Awwwwwwwww, how can you say anything negative about such sweet faces???? Thank you so much for the pictures!!

Karen, the pinecone trees are easy if you start with a largish styrofoam cone. At Walmart or any craft shop you can purchase green floral picks. They are wood and have wire attached to one end and a point on the other end. Take the wire and wrap it TIGHTLY around the fattest end of the pinecone, leaving the pick sticking out. When you get a bunch of various sized pinecones wired, start sticking the picks into the foam. If the pick is too long, just cut it off at an angle so it will still be sharp. When the cone is pretty well covered, you can take smaller pinecones with NO picks, and glue them to the bigger ones that you have already in place. That will fill in any holes or gaps. You will need a longer skinnier pinecone for the topper, or you can just use a regular pinecone to finish the top! HTH